Author's Note: Another story from me... not a oneshot, either :-) I do have to say that this might eventually turn to a higher rating (Mature)... that is, if you guys want! So review and let me know. I started this fic awhile ago and wasn't sure if I wanted to continue it or not, but I have some good ideas for it (or so I think lol) so here it is for ya! So let me know if you want me to continue it. And make me feel better because my hairstylist went a little crazy today and I have like platinum blonde hair now... whoa. Don't know how I feel about it, so make me smile! Anyways, enough rambling from moi, here's the fic!
The day started out like any other. Casey MacDonald woke up, took a shower, and got ready for school. It was the Friday before a long weekend, which was the only reason why Casey was able to smile on that early morning.
She happily walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where her entire family was eating breakfast. "Good morning," she said in a chipper voice, sitting down.
Edwin stared at his new stepsister a bit uneasily. "What's with her?" he whispered to Lizzie.
"Long weekend," Lizzie informed Edwin. Her older sister always got like that the day before a long weekend for some strange reason.
Casey and Derek shot each other narrow-eyed looks of rivalry as they both reached for the milk at the same time. Before a fight even had a chance to break out, George cleared his throat.
"As you know, this weekend is our annual family long weekend camping trip. Now that our family has been extended," he smiled lovingly at his new wife, "we will have three newcomers joining us." He grinned happily at his children, who simply stared back.
Casey's jaw dropped. "What?" she let go of the milk, which Derek apparently hadn't had a very good grip of, and it crashed onto the table. It landed right-side up but still splattered milk everywhere.
"Mom," she looked desperately at Nora. "You know that long weekends are my only vegging weekends! And you know how I look forward to them! There are like—what—a handful a year and I just—"
Nora stopped Casey from going on by putting her hand over hers and giving her a stern look. "Casey. We have a new family here. They have a special tradition, and since we are all one big family now, we will be taking part in it as well. George put a lot of work into planning a nice long weekend for us."
"How come I didn't know about it?" Casey was still obviously upset.
"Casey, we get to make SMORES!" Marti jumped on top of her seat, acting as if Smores would do the trick in convincing Casey to want to go.
Casey gave a heavy, frustrated sigh.
"Yeah, Case, it's great. No computers. No cellphones. No showers," Derek smirked, knowing Casey would flip over that.
"No showers!" Casey yelped. This was all too much for her.
"We bathe in the pond. It's nice and clean," George smiled good-naturedly.
Casey remained silent, her eye involuntarily twitching. It was useless to fight. She knew she had no say in this. She never had any say in this family.
"What time are we leaving, Dad?" Edwin asked, finishing up his cereal.
"Bright and early tomorrow morning," George sounded way too excited about the trip. "So everyone get to bed at a decent hour tonight. I want everyone piled in the van and ready to go by 7AM sharp.
"Seven?" Casey sputtered. 7:00 AM on a Saturday? That had to be a sin.
"Seven," Nora repeated, eyeing her daughter.
"Can't wait," Casey muttered. Her good mood completely decimated, she glumly walked to school by herself as she usually did.
"What's up with you?" her best-friend Emily asked her when she saw Casey sulking in the hallway.
"I have to go on some stupid family camping trip for the entire weekend," Casey grumbled, shoving a pile of books into her locker. "No cell phones or showers, and my annoying stepbrother 24/7 for three days."
Emily raised her eyebrows. "Well, I wouldn't mind being stuck with Derek."
Casey narrowed her eyes, not getting why her best-friend and most of the girls at school seemed to be so obsessed with her arrogant stepbrother. "I do mind," she said firmly, re-organizing the books in her locker before shutting it.
"Ah, camping's not that bad, Casey," Emily told her as they walked to homeroom together. "I go every summer with my cousins and we have a blast. I bet you'll have fun."
"With my family and, more specifically, Derek? I doubt it," Casey shook her head as they sat down at their desks. For once, Casey was actually upset that the school day went by so fast. It meant that it was closer to the weekend.
"Casey, make sure you pack your bathing suit," was what she was greeted with when she walked in the front door from school.
She just looked at my mother. "Fine," she said, not looking at all pleased about it. She went up to her bedroom and turned the music up, doing absolutely nothing until it was dinner time.
The whole family actually looked excited about this stupid trip. Even Derek—well, he didn't look excited about it exactly, but he wasn't complaining about it, which completely surprised Casey.
"Everyone has to get to bed early tonight, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," her mother said with a smile at George.
"I don't like bed!" shouted Marti, pounding her mashed potatoes with her fork.
"Casey, are you done packing yet? I wanted to get the van loaded up tonight so we don't waste any time tomorrow," George looked at his new stepdaughter.
Casey cringed. She hadn't even thought about packing yet. It was definitely not one of her favorite pastimes. "I'll bring it down in an hour," she promised him.
"I can bring my make-up, right?" Casey glanced at her mother questioningly.
"Please do," Derek commented.
Casey shot him a glare. Derek just smirked in return.
"Can I bring Mr. Fuzzybear?" Marti asked Nora.
"Of course, honey," Nora replied to Marti. "And Casey…why not just go for the natural look this weekend. It's just going to be us there."
Casey sighed. She loved her make-up, but her mother had a point. She really didn't have anyone to impress out there. And it wasn't like they had a bathroom there anyway.
Wait.
"Please tell me there is atleast a Port-a-Potty out there," Casey said suddenly.
Derek laughed. "Sorry, princess. You have to do your business in the grand old wilderness." He loved this. Seeing Casey being tortured.
Even Lizzie looked horrified at the thought.
"It's not that bad," Edwin told her, seeing the look on her face. "We bring toilet paper."
"Oh, ew," Casey didn't even want to GO there. All she could think of was "man, this is going to suck."
After dinner, Casey pulled out her suitcase and went into her dresser. She neatly packed some underwear, pajamas, and some clothes to wear, along with her favorite pink bikini. She went into the bathroom and got the cleanest towel she could find and also put it in her suitcase. She packed a few toiletries, aside from her toothbrush and hairbrush, which she would need in the morning, and a light jacket in case she got cold. It was supposed to be nice out, but it would probably get cool in the evenings.
She dragged her suitcase down to George and went back upstairs to pack a small bag to keep with her during the trip to the woods. In it, she packed her CD player with some CDs and extra batteries, a few books and magazines, and a notebook with a few pens so she could write some poetry.
"Case," Derek barged in without knocking.
"Derek!" she barked. "What happened to knocking?"
"Yeah," was all Derek said. "Anyway, I need some batteries. Do you have any?"
"Just enough for me," she told him, going into her closet to pick out what sandals she would wear the next day.
"Come on, I know you always have extra," Derek argued.
"Yeah, but they're for me," she answered.
"But I don't have any," Derek said. "Come onnnn…"
Casey sighed. He was so lucky to have a stepsister like her. "Fine." She walked across the room and took her extra batteries out of her bag. "Here," she handed them to her.
"And knock next time," she placed her hands on her hips.
"Yup," Derek smiled and left.
Casey wondered why she was always so nice to him when he was a jerk to her. Probably because she was a nice person and he…well, was obnoxious.
Before bed, Lizzie went to see her sister. "Casey…are you looking forward to tomorrow?"
"Not quite, kiddo," Casey sighed, brushing her wet hair. She had just got out of the shower. "Why, are you?"
"Well, I wasn't at first. But Mom and George seem so happy about it. So I decided I'm going to try to be more optimistic about it," Lizzie said wisely. "I mean…it could be fun."
Casey looked over at her sister, realizing she was right. She usually was. "Good outlook, Lizzie. You might be right."
Lizzie smiled, looking pleased. "Goodnight, Casey."
"Night, kid," Casey gave her a hug before she left.
Deciding she was going to make the best of things like her little sister was, Casey went to bed early with a brighter outlook on things.
Her alarm shocked her awake at 6:00 AM.
"Ugh," she groaned sleepily as she crawled out of bed. Tiredly, she put on a pair of jeans and a tank-top, and washed her face with cold water to wake her up. It partially worked, and she was able to keep her eyes open as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and brushed her teeth. She shoved her toothbrush and hairbrush into her bag before she forgot them.
Downstairs, the whole family was up and bustling around the house. Mom and George were running around trying to remember everything. Marti was whining about not being able to find her float for the lake. Edwin and Lizzie were eating breakfast and talking about all the things they could do at the lake. And Derek was even there, dressed and not looking miserable as he sat at the table.
"You're awake," Derek raised his eyebrows, feigning being impressed as Casey sat down at the table.
"And you're awake," she gave him the same tone as she made herself a bowl of cereal.
"Oh, I'm up and rearing to go," he smirked at me, stretching in his chair.
"Why are you so keen on this trip anyway?" Casey couldn't help but ask curiously.
He shrugged. "Men like the outdoors. It's just a fact."
"You're a man?" Casey laughed.
Derek glared at her. "Ha, ha. Hilarious, Casey. Really," he responded sarcastically.
She just grinned at him and ate her breakfast.
"Alright, five minutes, everybody!" George called from somewhere in the house. "I want everyone in the van in five minutes!"
Casey cleaned up the table and went upstairs to grab her bag. She made sure she had everything. "Here we go," she let out a deep breath and made her way back down the stairs and out the door. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti were already in the very back of the van, situating themselves. That left her and Derek to take the middle seat.
"Of course," Casey groaned to herself, and slid into the van.
Seconds later, Derek popped into the van. "Casey, what a pleasure," he said sarcastically as he shoved his stuff under the front seat.
"Ditto," Casey rolled her eyes. She hoped it wasn't too long of a ride to the campgrounds.
"Everybody in?" Nora and George appeared.
"Let's go!" Marti shouted from the back.
George laughed. "Alright, let's get going then," he agreed and soon they were on the road.
Casey glared at Derek as he loudly sang along to his headphones. She immediately wished she hadn't given him those batteries.
Derek knew he was annoying her, so made sure to continue. She turned her own CD player up but could still hear him.
"Derek!" she yelled at him crossly.
He ignored her and continued. She reached over and grabbed the headphones, pulling them off of him.
"Hey!" he exclaimed and angrily snatched them back from her. They fought over them for awhile, and finally Casey just gave in and let him have them. He put them back on and made sure to sing even louder, directly in her ear.
"You're SO annoying!" Casey shouted, and Derek just grinned.
It was only a bit over an hour, but to Casey it felt like the longest ride ever. As soon as the car stopped, she leapt over Derek and jumped out of the car, so glad to be out of there.
"This is it," George said, getting out and opening the trunk of the car.
They were in a parking lot.
"What?" Casey looked confused. "Here?"
"Well, not quite," George explained. "We park here and walk for about a mile."
"Then we can go swimming!" Marti bounced.
"Everybody grab your own bags," George said. "Except for Marti. Derek, would you mind taking hers?"
Derek didn't look thrilled about it. "Fine."
Casey smirked at his misfortune. Derek made a face at her.
The MacDonald-Venturi group walked through the woods like a herd. Casey swatted at the bugs, already not a big fan of the woods. They approached the lake and Casey wrinkled her nose. The water looked murky and full of gross creatures.
"Ew," she said quietly to herself. Of course, Derek heard it.
"Oh get over it, princess," he rolled his eyes at her. "The water's fine."
"Yeah, if you like nasty swamp water," she replied with an edge.
They put their stuff down.
"So you're not going in there?" Derek raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.
"No way," Casey shook her head. She definitely had her limits.
"I doubt that," Derek said. And as quick as a flash, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder caveman-style.
"Derek, put me DOWN!" Casey screamed, kicking her legs and pounding her fists.
"Alright!" he answered and dropped her—right into the lake.
"AUGHH!" Casey screamed, sputtering lake water out of her mouth. "DEREK!"
Derek just laughed, thinking it was hysterical. "Classic," he commented to himself, grinning wildly.
Casey sat, drenched, in the three feet of dark water. She glared up at Derek angrily. Letting out a scream of anger, she stood up and shoved him as hard as she could into the water. It worked, and he fell, landing just as she had. He looked completely taken by surprised, and Casey cackled evilly.
"Oh, it is SO ON!" Derek yelled, tackling Casey down into the water again with him. They wrestled around in the shallow water, to the amusement of Edwin and Lizzie.
"Derek, stop goofing off and help me pitch the tents!" George called to his son.
Derek dunked Casey under the water one last time before jogging over to his dad, sopping wet and out of breath.
Meanwhile, Casey tried to wring out her drenched hair. There was a slight smile on her face. She wouldn't admit it to anybody, but that had actually been a lot of fun, wrestling with Derek in the lake. She hid her smile with a faux scowl as she walked back over to her stuff, Edwin, and Lizzie.
Edwin and Lizzie exchanged looks with each other knowingly.
"You're supposed to go in the lake with your bathing suit on," Marti told Casey matter-of-factly. She didn't look amused by Casey's soaked clothing.
"I know, I know," Casey told her, getting her towel out of her back to attempt to dry herself off. Luckily it was warm and getting pretty sunny, so she would probably wouldn't take that long for her clothes to dry.
Derek and George set up three tents, one for Nora and George, one for the girls, and one for the boys. Casey didn't mind sharing with Lizzie, but Marti was another story.
When she told her mother about this, Nora sighed. "Casey, I'm sure it will be fine. But if Marti acts up, just send her to me and George, and she can stay with us."
"Alright," Casey liked that back-up plan.
"Swimming time!" Edwin called out, stripping down to the swimming trunks that he apparently had been wearing the entire time. He let out a whoop and ran to the lake. Lizzie laughed and went to go put on her own bathing suit.
"Are you coming, Casey?" Lizzie asked, digging her bathing suit out of her bag.
Casey sighed. The water was pretty gross looking, but it wasn't like she hadn't already been soaked in it. "Fine."
So far, the camping trip didn't seem like it was going to be that bad. Of course, nobody seemed to notice the dark clouds beginning to approach the campers.